Canada’s Flaherty Says G-20 to Discuss Fiscal Targets

April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Group of 20 officials will discuss
this week whether they need to set new fiscal targets for their
governments, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said.

Flaherty, speaking to reporters ahead of meetings of
finance ministers and central bankers from the G-20 in
Washington today and tomorrow, said he supports targets because
they help establish “fiscal discipline.” He also said that it
was his “impression” the U.S. is opposed to such targets.

At a February meeting in Moscow, G-20 officials accepted
the U.S. position by not setting new targets to replace those
they had agreed on in 2010, which many of them are on course to
miss. They pledged instead to develop “credible medium-term
fiscal strategies.”

“We’ll see what the different views are around the table
about hard targets,” Flaherty said. “I do worry about the
credibility of the G-20.”

Flaherty said he discussed fiscal policy issues at a
meeting today with Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew, where he
also advocated for TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline. He
told Lew the project would benefit both economies and moving the
oil by rail would be even worse for the environment. President
Barack Obama has said he will make a decision on the project by
the end of the year.

While he declined to comment on his search for a new Bank
of Canada governor, Flaherty said he is looking for an
“excellent” replacement and that he has some “very good
candidates.” The current governor, Mark Carney, is leaving for
the Bank of England in June.